Kegels Are Not One Size Fits All

Kegels are a pelvic floor exercise. More specifically Kegels are an exercise that involves contracting and then relaxing the pelvic floor muscles. Just like any other exercise you need to know how to perform them correctly and at what frequency you should do them that makes sense for you. 

For example, I wouldn't attempt to do the same exercise program as Serena Williams right now. My body would not like that at all. So, your pelvic floor may not be ready for a Kegel program of say 10 second holds, 50 repetitions, 5 times a day! 

Maybe your pelvic floor needs to do 15 second holds, 5 repetitions, 3 times a day in sitting, but your best friend needs to focus on quick contractions, 20 repetitions, 4 times a day in standing. 

Kegels can be helpful for people that are experiencing urinary or fecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, low back pain or poor core stability, but there is no one size fits all Kegel exercise program. 

Furthermore, Kegels are often over-prescribed and most people aren't able to do them correctly with verbal instruction alone. If someone is experiencing symptoms that make them feel like they should be doing Kegels l strongly recommend that they consult a healthcare provider and ideally work with a pelvic floor physical therapist to determine the best treatment plan. Many people, including those with incontinence, actually present with overactive pelvic floor muscles and need to work on relaxing the muscles vs strengthening them.

If the muscles are in a guarded or hypertonic state they are already at their end range of motion and won't be able to contract further when they need to; such as when a person needs to stop urine from coming out. So sometimes doing Kegels can make symptoms worse because you are strengthening an already shortened muscle. Sometimes people may develop new symptoms related to pelvic floor dysfunction such as pelvic pain.

Most patients with pelvic floor dysfunction typically need skilled manual therapy to help address any myofascial restrictions and neuromuscular re-education to help the patient learn to relax the muscles and be able to know how to contract them appropriately. Furthermore, some people may need to work on strength while others may need to work on endurance and others may need to work on coordination of the muscles, which would require different types of Kegels. So bottom-line, see a specialist to determine if Kegels are appropriate and to see what types one should be doing.

So before you start following a random article's recommendation to Kegel till the cows come home, get yourself to pelvic floor specialist and get the best plan for you!